I do love it when I receive a response to my leaders! Industry colleagues tell me that however busy they may be, they always take time to read the leader. Apparently my words make people think –sometimes they agree and sometimes they don’t… Occasionally the contents will be discussed with colleagues, friends and family and often people plan a response – but rarely do I receive one. This week I’ve had two, which makes me happy!

My point last week was, if National Rail can provide public washrooms and profit financially from them, why can’t local authorities do the same? An interesting response from the Loo of the Year Awards’ Mike Bone appears below, while a comment added to our Facebook page by the Domestic Cleaning Alliance makes me wonder whether the DCA is considering taking up the challenge. It said: “If you can let us know the costs of running a standalone public toilet block for a year I will crunch some numbers to see if it is a viable proposition to charge.”

Mike notes that local authority public toilet provision is not obligatory and I agree with him that many authorities clearly fail to recognise the human need; instead they close facilities to achieve an immediate reduction in costs, then sell the plots to make money which helps balance the books and house a family or few. That may be great in the short term, but if legislation changes one day or those at the helm decide that human need is indeed important, they’re going to have to spend a great deal more further down the line to buy land on which to build public toilets – if they’re lucky enough to find any and can then afford to pay for it, with the way things are going!

If you’re able to help the DCA out with some figures I’d be grateful (just imagine the impact if the DCA, which offers national coverage, sets up a chain of public washrooms!) You can respond to me by email or comment on our Facebook page.

And if you do ever feel inclined to comment on my leaders, I really would love to hear from you – whether you’re on my side at the time or not!